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League of American Bicyclists Update

I'm a member of the League of American Bicyclists, and I'm continually amazed at the number of cyclists who haven't heard of this organization. If you're interested in improving things for cycling in the US, please consider joining.

Here's their latest newsletter. Enjoy!

February 2, 2009

Greetings!

Even though the National Bike Summit isn't the focus of this e-news, just a quick reminder that we're rapidly approaching the early bird registration date and room blocks at the Summit hotels are filling up. So register and make your travel plans ASAP. If you would like a Summit Web banner or a print advertisement for promotional use, email Meghan at meghan@bikeleague.org.

Meanwhile, the economic stimulus package waits for nobody; watch this space for action later this week!

Sincerely,

Andy Clarke,President

National News

Update on Economic Stimulus package

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The League and other members of the America Bikes Coalition have been working to ensure that economic recovery funds help communities create safe, healthy and less-polluting transportation options for all Americans by providing explicit funding for bicycle, pedestrian and trail investments. Click here for full details.

Some items of interest from the meeting:* The draft of the next edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) was issued for public comment in January 2008. FHWA received over 15,000 comments, with little opposition over the proposed items for bicyclists - new shared lane markings, improved guide signing and added signing for narrow lanes. FHWA will have a decision by late 2009 or early 2010 resulting in either a new edition of the MUTCD or a revised draft for public input.

* Several traffic control device experiments are underway. The City of Portland, OR is testing colored "bike boxes". Additionally the BTC hopes to get a good experiment on colored and enhanced bike lane markings from San Francisco. The BTC will be doing outreach to public agencies, practitioner, and advocates on NCUTCD's role in reviewing and assisting traffic control device approval.

Bicycling for Louisville reports that a vulnerable road user law has been introduced in the legislature and needs your support! House Bill 88 ("One Road" cyclist safety bill) would create a new offence of "vehicular assault of a bicyclist or pedestrian" and has a number of other important provisions clarifying the legal status of cyclists on the road in Kentucky. The legislative session is short, so keep checking the Bicycling for Louisville site for updates and calls for action. Right now, you should write members of the Judiciary Committee.

New Delaware Governor Major Bike Advocate

Jack A. Markell, democrat, was inaugurated as Delaware governor on January 31, 2009 and he has major plans to improve the bicycle and pedestrian friendliness of his state. Markell's announced during his campaign his goal of making Delaware the friendliest state in the country for cyclists and pedestrians. Markell is proposing refurbishing existing paths and giving builders incentives to include paths and other features for pedestrians and cyclists in new developments. Click here to learn more.

San Fran Mayor Announces Bike Share Program

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson announced this January 28, 2009 to implement a bike sharing pilot program this year. He plans on expounding upon their gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community status. "Bike sharing will help connect thousands of residents and commuters to their workplaces and shopping destinations by providing bikes that they can easily borrow," said Mayor Newsom. "This bike sharing pilot project will allow us to test and perfect the bikes and technology that will be used in our citywide network." The pilot program will include 50 bikes located at five stations on non-city property. Bike sharing customers will sign-up through an online registration system. Click here to learn more.

For the second year, REI has pledged $100,000 for the REI/Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) Grant Program. The program, administered by the Bikes Belong Foundation, supports designated and aspiring Bicycle Friendly Communities that are demonstrating success, employing creative strategies and showing marked advancements in becoming more bicycle-friendly. One of the goals of the REI/BFC Grant Program is to build on the significant momentum generated by the BFC application process. The 2009 REI/BFC Grant recipients will also receive technical assistance from the League to help them prioritize and reach their bike-friendly goals.

2008 Clubs of the Year

Congratulations to the 2008 Clubs of the Year, as determined by the staff and board of the League. If you think your club deserves to be on this list next year, contact your regional board member in the fall and let them know: we'll let you know when!

The League has four new positions available. If you are have a strong interest in bicycle and pedestrian advocacy, click here to learn more about these exciting job openings.

San Francisco Great Streets Campaign Director

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) is seeking a highly motivated and talented individual to serve in a new position of Director of the San Francisco Great Streets Campaign (GSC). This is an exciting, new collaboration being launched by the SFBC and partner organizations to promote safer, more livable streets and public places. Click here to learn more.

Other News

Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Hires New Executive Director

The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin (BFW) announced January 21, 2009 the appointment of its new Executive Director, Mr. Kevin Hardman, following an extensive and thorough executive search.

"As a statewide nonprofit serving the needs of Wisconsin's diverse and vibrant bicycle community, the BFW required a combination of vision, management expertise and a proven consensus building in its leader," said Chick Veenstra, the Chair of the Board of Directors. "Kevin has just this mix of talent. His depth of community-building experience, his successes as a businessperson and his love of cycling will be a tremendous asset in our continued effort to make Wisconsin the nation's best place to be on a bike."

Comments

the league has serious marketing problems. they need to start with changing their name. then they need to get serious about marketing. too many problems to list. that most americans or even bicyclists have never heard of them is not at all suprising to me.

I think the name is fine, but you're absolutely right about marketing. I think many of the members of the LAB are a little too hung up on things like helmets and some of the details, and not on the big picture.

At least, that's the impression I get when I read their letters column in the magazine they print.

No... can't believe it but no. We've been scaling back financially to compensate for the economy and that was one of the things that had to go.

The worst part is that I work a couple streets over from Claddagh, where it seems a bunch of the Sammers were meeting. Passed them at lunch on the afternoon of the game, and even stopped to say hi to a couple of folks I know. They were all psyched and their enthusiasm was infectious.

The Dispatch report that Columbus Rides Bikes shared on Facebook today is entitled "More crashes come with more bicycle traffic on dedicated lanes," and discusses the new lanes and the number of accidents that have happened there. None of these accidents/crashes has been fatal.

So... you can read the article and get the statistics. Here's a summary of them, though, with a quote from the article:
...the number of crashes has jumped. Between 2012 and 2015, there were five crashes involving bicycles on Summit between Hudson and East 5th Avenue.…

In a move that has left quite a few people stranded in Columbus, the ride-sharing company Car2Go has announced today that they're pulling out of the local market as of May 31.

car2go is saddened to announce that we have made the difficult decision to suspend our operations in Columbus as of May 31. Read why here: https://t.co/gRSibUhotB
— car2go Columbus (@car2goColumbus) May 24, 2018
This has got me more than a little pissed off and very inconvenienced.

There's no doubt - Car2Go improved the quality of my family's life for the past few years while they were active in town. As a one-car family where I rode my bike and took the bus most days, Car2Go filled in the gap nicely when we needed that extra set of wheels to get ourselves places.

Here's the news they sent out via their website today:

HELLO,
We’re writing to let you know that after careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue car2go service in Columbus, effective May 31, 2018.
In 201…

I've been out with the flu for a few days (no, I'm not oinking), and I missed this surprising post from Jeff Stephens of Consider Biking back on October 9th. Suffice to say that Jeff took some time to sit back and watch the behavior of our city's cyclists, and was dismayed at what he saw. I'm in complete agreement with Jeff on this issue. Simply too many Columbus cyclists do not obey the law. But let's look at the reasons that Jeff proposed in his commentary: Why are you riding this way? Are you so self-absorbed, that the world revolves around you? Are you just opportunistic since the bicycle gives you the opportunity to cheat traffic? Are you “expressing yourself” with your nonchalant coolness, hipness, whatever? Or, do you just not know any better? Do you just follow the example of the guy/gal in front of you because you’re new to urban bicycling? (I think it’s the latter.)Jeff's statement breaks the possible reasons for this behavior down into two extrem…